McLaren, which last year announced its plans to enter the burgeoning 'Hypercar' class at the Le Mans 24hrs and the World Endurance Championship, has revealed the race car with which it wants to take on the likes of Toyota, Ferrari, and Peugeot - meet the MCL-HY.
Let me guess - it's orange?
As a can of Club, of course! McLaren has been leaning heavily into the 'papaya' orange heritage of Bruce McLaren's 1960s racing cars, and so the MCL-HY was actually shown alongside an original (and hopelessly gorgeous) McLaren M6A. It's more than just a convenient prop for a photo shoot, though - the M6A would have, if Bruce's plans had come to fruition, gone racing at Le Mans as the M6 GT. Sadly, it never happened.
What's the spec of the MCL-HY?
The MCL-HY is built to the LMDh regulations, which means it can race in both the WEC (including Le Mans, of course) and the US IMSA sports car racing series. That means that it's built to a slightly tighter rule-set than rivals such as Ferrari, Toyota, and Peugeot - all of which are built to the fractionally more open LMH standard - but the overall closeness of the rules will be tightened up further by the Balance of Performance regulations, of course.
The MCL-HY's power comes from a twin-turbo V6 hybrid engine delivering a robust 707hp to the rear wheels, and the whole car weighs a mere 1,030kg even with the hybrid system. The idea is that the MCL-HY should be a racing car that's the meeting point of aerodynamic and racing experience from McLaren's F1 operations, mixed with the styling cues of the road-car side of things.
"Years and months in the making and here we are, revealing the MCL-HY to the world. McLaren Racing now has three race cars ready to contest the biggest motorsport series in the world; Formula 1, Indycar, and WEC. This means McLaren, its partners and fans can challenge for the Triple Crown of Monaco GP, Indy 500 and the 24 Hours of Le Mans together - a unique cross-series story that sets us apart,” said Zak Brown, Chief Executive Officer, McLaren Racing.
McLaren has already put together a test team, including McLaren Hypercar Team works driver Mikkel Jensen, who will be supported by McLaren Driver Development Programme (DDP) drivers Gregoire Saucy and Richard Verschoor and United Autosports veteran driver Ben Hanley.
I can't help but notice you mentioned a surprise…
Oh yes. If you like the look of the MCL-HY, then I have good news - you can have one. Well, sort of. McLaren is going to 'do a Ferrari' and offer track-day versions of the MCL-HY, called the GTR (a nod to previous McLaren Le Mans glories), to well-heeled customers, who will have to be pre-vetted and, essentially, offered the car for purchase. This customer car ditches the hybrid system, which means that it's lighter than the official race car, but it also makes more power thanks to not having to strictly meet any rules, so it has a 730hp output.
These customer MCL-HY GTR models will be made available to owners across six annual events at some of the world's best race tracks, with full McLaren support in the form of mechanics, spares, and driver training, as well as, we presume, a marquee with some nice fizzy drinks and sandwiches. At least.
People who order an MCL-HY GTR will also be given exclusive access to McLaren's journey towards the 2027 Le Mans 24 hours, including behind-the-scenes events in testing and development, and, of course, VIP status at the race itself.
Does McLaren have much history at Le Mans?
Oh yes. Bruce McLaren himself, alongside fellow Kiwi Chris Amon, won the 1966 Le Mans 24hrs for Ford, the first win for the legendary GT40 (in somewhat controversial circumstances - go watch the movie…) and of course the road-car-based McLaren F1 GTR took four out of the top five places, including the outright win, at the 1995 Le Mans, the first road-legal car (strictly speaking) to win the race since the 1960s.
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